Internal issues During the first year of his term in office, Lagos had to confront a high level of unemployment, generated by the political instability of the region, a process that began to revert at the end of 2003. He also promised to keep the budget deficit in check and interest rates and inflation low. Lagos enjoyed great popular support, bordering on 55%, and ending around 60-70% during the last six months of his term. He left office with an approval rating of 75%, a historic level of support for any politician in post-Pinochet Chile. The policy of proximity with people was pronounced in the opening of the doors of the
Palacio de La Moneda, that had remained closed since the 1973 coup d'état. Lagos's lowest approval rating in office was 45%, which was still a decent rating for any Chilean politician post-Pinochet. On 3 April 2001, with a 63-37-4 vote, the
Chamber of Deputies of Chile approved a bill to
abolish the death penalty in Chile for civilian crimes and set the maximum punishment at
life imprisonment. The politicians who rejected the bill belonged to
right-wing Chilean parties. The law was set to go into effect as soon as then-President Lagos signed it, which he did weeks later. Justice Minister
José Antonio Gómez Urrutia praised both the Chamber of Deputies and Lagos for supporting the measure. Beginning in 2002, Lagos' government had to face suspicions of political corruption due to the prosecution of one of his ministers, Carlos Cruz, and of other civil employees of the
Public Works Ministry, in the denominated MOP-GATE case.
Gloria Ana Chevesich, the judge in charge of this case, discovered that ministers, undersecretaries, and other officials of exclusive confidence of the President received additional payments to their regular remuneration: the so-called "extra payments". This irregularity was acknowledged by Lagos, who specified that the practice had also developed during the governments of Frei Ruiz-Tagle and Aylwin. The official position of the government consisted of not acknowledging the criminal nature of these practices and establishing a legal reform that increased the pay of ministers and undersecretaries of the government, a matter that was approved in its legislative proceeding.
Human rights in 2005. . All governments of the
Concertación made progress in clarifying the crimes committed during the military dictatorship. During the government of
Patricio Aylwin, the
Rettig Report was issued, documenting political executions and forced disappearances. Under
Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, dialogue roundtables were created in which the armed forces were required to provide the information they possessed regarding the whereabouts of the disappeared detainees. Ricardo Lagos established a commission to determine the extent of torture in Chile. On 28 November 2004, the day before the release of the
Valech Report, President Lagos announced that the government would provide compensation to approximately 30,000 victims of human rights violations during the military dictatorship. Of the 35,868 individuals who testified before the
National Commission on Political Imprisonment and Torture, about 30,000 cases were deemed legitimate. On 15 June 2005, Lagos submitted to the National Congress bill No. 20,405 creating the
National Institute of Human Rights (Chile), which would be established in 2010.
Foreign relations During 2004, Lagos faced a series of tensions in his relationship with other South American countries, caused by recurring Bolivian aspirations for
access to the sea. This situation was linked to the power crisis taking place in
Argentina, an important supplier of natural gas to Chile. In bilateral meetings between Bolivian President
Carlos Mesa and Argentine President
Néstor Kirchner, the former agreed to the sale of Bolivian gas to Argentina under the condition that "not a single gas molecule be sold to Chile". Additionally, the
Venezuelan President,
Hugo Chávez, has supported in various instances the Bolivian sea claim, causing a diplomatic impassé between Chile and Venezuela. The tension between both governments had dissipated during July 2004.
Legacy . During Lagos' presidency, Free Trade Agreements were signed with the
European Community, the United States, South Korea, the
People's Republic of China and
New Zealand,
Singapore and
Brunei (though some of his supporters in the center-left
Coalition of Parties for Democracy consider that these agreements may have negative effects on the country); the incidence of extreme poverty was significantly reduced; the legal workweek was reduced from 48 to 45 hours; improvements were made in infrastructure and transport; an unemployment insurance scheme was created; as well as the AUGE health program guaranteeing coverage for a number of medical conditions; the
Chile Barrio housing program; the
Chile Solidario program; compulsory schooling was extended to 12 years; the first divorce law in Chile was approved; monetary compensation to victims of torture under the Pinochet regime identified in the
Valech Report was authorized; and, recently, a recast
constitution was signed. He finished his six-year term with a historically high
approval rating of 70%. ==Post-presidential career==